


Did Ya Miss Me, Pine Tree

by Mack0Lantern



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2018-11-06 03:01:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11027226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mack0Lantern/pseuds/Mack0Lantern
Summary: Mabel and Dipper turn 18 and move to Gravity Falls to take over for Stan and Ford as well they explore the world and its mysteries. On the Mystery-Twins first mission, they find something life-changing.





	1. Did Ya Miss Me, Pine Tree?

Chapter 1  
Mabel sits in the passenger seat next to me, napping and leaving me alone to think. I drive down the rural roads of Oregon that span across the state, forests only parting when a city breaks its path. The road is made of broken pavement that feels more like gravel than solid pavement, making for a bumpy ride. Mabel really can sleep through anything.   
Yesterday was our eighteenth birthday, we celebrated then loaded up our already packed belongings and took away to Gravity Falls. She and I were to take over for Ford when he and Stan went on more grand adventures. We were to protect Gravity Falls, our favorite little, sleepy town with the more-often-than-occasional monsters and threats to the town's safety. We were to stop the dangers here so it would not spread across the world.  
I sighed, listening to the road trip playlist Mabel and I had put together. Stan and Ford will stay with us for a day to get us fully acquainted with all of the different spots across Gravity Falls that Ford set up as bases.   
I drive into the town limits, seeing the large “Welcome To Gravity Falls” sign. The sign put a smile on my face, and I decide to temporarily blast the music to wake Mabel. She wakes up with a start, her just cut pixie hair sticking out in all different directions and her eyes wide.  
“Dude, what the fuck?” She asks, rubbing her eyes. She then gets a clear view of the familiar setting, and then smiles.  
“Glad I woke you up, sis?” I asked, letting out a short laugh.  
“Yes, but the way it was done was completely uncalled for and you know that.”  
“Well, either way, we’re in the falls so get your shoes on, we’ll be there in about five minutes.”  
She put her shoes on and moved around her bags to get them into a position easy enough for her to grab all of them in one trip. I continued to look at the road, watching all of the people that I knew walk around. I saw a few families that I hadn’t seen before hiking up the trails that go through the forest that surrounds all of Gravity Falls. I looked at the trees. Most of them pine. Pine Tree. I lost control and swerved off road, slamming on the brakes. I saw flashes of him. His eye splitting into two and his body becoming humanoid with each flash. I heard Pine Tree, Shooting Star, Question Mark, Ice Bag, running through my head on loop. All I saw before my vision went black was Mabel getting out of the passenger seat and to my side.  
***  
I awoke in a bed that felt comfortable. I looked around the room, realizing it was mine and Mabel’s old room at the shack. Now it had been turned into a lounge area, as Mabel and I were supposed to stay in the lab that now had a second story just above ground that looked like a second, smaller house behind the shack.  
“Mabel! Someone!” I yelled as soon as I felt my head begin to burn again. Suddenly, I was standing in front of a mirror across the room. I saw myself flashing between a strange person with a black and yellow suit and a black top hat and just me. Except my own reflection had blood coming from my eyes and my body began to turn a bright yellow. A huge flash of yellow light bit into my vision followed by complete blackness.   
I awoke once more, this time Mabel was kneeling at my bed side, Wendy and Soos were sitting at the ledge of my bed, and our Stan and Ford were leaning against the wall on either side of the door on the other side of the room.  
“Mabel?” I said, my voice sore from, I assume, my screaming.  
“Yeah, Dip?” She replied in a soothing voice that came from her working in a mental hospital for her volunteer hours to get into the med school about fifteen minutes out of Gravity Falls.  
“Can I get some water? I’m pretty sure maybe food, water, and a nap will help this shit,” I requested. She nodded her head and then stood up, walking out of the room.  
“Hey, kid. You alright?” Stan asked, Ford nodding his head, signifying he wanted to know the same thing.  
“Mentally? Not amazing, but I’ve been through worse. Physically, though, I just need maybe like one day of rest and then I’ll be back in business.”  
“Good,” Ford replied this time, the two being almost interchangeable.  
“Yeah. I just wanted to be here and ready immediately. I was just so fucking excited and now I’m in bed because my PTSD is acting up again. It hasn’t been this bad since I started therapy five years ago.”  
“It’s okay, kid. I’m sure it was just a random fit. I know that every few years I get a little worked up with mine. You’ll be fine, boy,” Stan related, assuring me with a look of sincerity that he only ever gets around his family. And even then, it only shows up once in a blue moon.  
We sit in silence until Mabel came back with a huge mason jar of water and ice and big bowl of potato soup. My favorite.  
“Thanks, sis. I needed this,” I thanked her, “And as for the rest of you, please leave me while I eat and nap.”  
Everyone left and I took some time to eat and regenerate. I slowly ate the bowl of soup and took sips of water. I finished the last drops of soup and closed my eyes, laying back on the mattress. As I slept, I had a dreamless sleep, a welcome transition from PTSD night terrors. I awoke later and I looked at the time and saw that it was eleven a.m. the next day. I sat up and stretched out. I felt a thousand times better and decided to go downstairs.  
I made my way down the stairs and went to the kitchen where I found everyone squeezed in. I walked backwards and looked into the living room and saw five sleeping bags. I walked back to the kitchen and saw them all looking directly at me.  
“Guys, what’s going on? Did you guys all sleep here?” I asked.  
“Yeah, we all wanted to be here just in case you needed all five of us,” Wendy replied, smiling. They all come up and group hug me. Except for Stan who gives me thumbs up and hugs me separately.   
“In what situation could I possibly need all five of you?” I asked, rolling my eyes as they all just shrugged. I grab a bowl of cereal and sit down. I start to eat as the others make casual conversation. I add a few comments here and there but mostly keep quiet, thinking. Thinking about settling in, taking on mysteries, and hanging out with my sis until she has to start pre-med late July.  
“I think we’re gonna head out. See ya, Dip,” Wendy said, motioning to Soos as well.  
“Don’t wanna help unpack, huh?” I reply, chuckling.  
“Oh, dude, while you were sleeping we unpacked everything. We knew you’d wanna organise so we only did your furniture, but other than that, you’re all set, man,” Soos answered. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, smiling. Man, I missed these assholes.  
“You guys are far too good to me,” I tell them.  
“Well, don’t get used to it, we have all the time in the world to fuck with you now that you’ve moved here,” Wendy remarked. I laugh and bid them my goodbyes.  
I take my bowl to the sink and begin to clean the dishes when Mabel stops me and tells me that she’s got it. I don’t argue and do as she says when she tells me to unpack and organise my stuff. I walk through the back door and go to the house outside. When I enter, there is a living space with lots of windows and a kitchen. Through a door in the living room, there’s Mabel’s room and then through the door in the kitchen, is the steps that go to the lab and my room.   
I take the steps down and am greeted by the main area that has a mini-fridge, two lounge seats, and walls lined with books. I go to the bookcase on the far side of the room. I take out a book, then press a button hidden in the lip of the shelf. A small keypad is revealed as a piece of the wood slides down. I put in the code and the whole bookshelf slides to the left, showing a new room that looks almost the same as the last. However, these books all have more mystical contents and there is a door encarved in the far bookshelf.  
I go through and enter an enormous room filled with desks, lab tables, ingredients, strange contraptions, and scattered books from the previous room. I walked down one of the many connecting hallways and enter a door at the end. Inside there was a large bedroom with its own bookshelf, desk, and even connecting bathroom.   
I dig into the boxes and start putting things away. I put novelties and books on the bookshelf, the journals in my passcode protected drawer on my desk, and shove the rest in random corners of the room. I unpack all of the contraptions of my own, along with my electronics. I finally set an empty journal on the desk. It looks like the other journals but with a gold four on the cover. My edition.  
I hear a voice call my name and I walk out into the large room of the lab. I see Ford standing near one of the desks with vials and elixirs scattered across it. He organizes some papers, then turns to face me.  
“Ah! Dipper. Stan and I are going to head out in about an hour. Here are all of my papers and maps of the town. As always the logs of all of my new inventions are on the desk near the out-of-use portal. Sorry we can’t stay another day and acquaint you as originally planned, but duty calls, I’m afraid,” Ford rambles in the way only a mad scientist like himself could. He talks as he juggles a pen in his hand, twisting it between his six fingers.  
“No worries, Ford. Mabel and I are big kids now,” I assure him before another voice cuts in.  
“Yeah, we’re big kids!” Mabel interjects. She wears her same type of sweater but with these new ones she usually has one sleeve off-the-shoulder and wears short skirts and knee-high socks, then she finishes off the outfit with muddy converse. We all laugh as she comes up to Ford and playfully puts her arm around him, “You ain’t got nothin’ to worry about, grunkle.”  
“I guess I have to believe you,” He kisses her forehead and then comes to hug me and do the same to me, “Come upstairs with me and say goodbye to the other old man.”  
We walk out, bypassing the security and go upstairs, then out the door to the shack. We walk through the back door and see Stan in the living room, sitting on his old, sunken in recliner.  
“We came to say goodbye,” I told him and he smiled, standing up.  
“And that means forcing a hug,” Mabel added on, Stand trying to hide a smile. We all rush to him and begin a large group hug. Stan will pretend to hate it, but, inside, he loves it and us.  
“Well, Ford, are you ready to head out?” Stan asked, and Ford showed him a duffle bag larger than me, “That’s just the devices, Ford.”  
“I know. My fully packed case is upstairs,” Ford replied, snarkily.  
“Well? What are you waiting for? We ain’t got all day,” Stand said grumpily. Ford just walked past Stan and patted him on the back as he left to go upstairs, “I don’t know why I fuckin’ put up with that guy.”  
“Because he’s your brother and you love him?” Mabel asked, raising one of her eyebrows, chuckling.  
“Somethin’ like that,” Stan replied just as Ford came down with an even larger bag of stuff, presumable his clothes, “Ready to go?”   
Ford nodded and we all spoke our last Goodbye’s and See ya’s. They hopped in a broken-down van that was next to mine and Mabel’s clean, blue convertible. We waved as they left, then I turned to Mabel.  
“Guess who’s already got a mystery?” I asked enthusiastically, jumping up and down with my journal, feeling like a kid again.  
“Shit, no way. What is it?” Mabel replied just as excitedly.  
“There have been strong readings of otherworldly interruptions via cracks in some trans-dimensional rifts,” I continue to say.  
“So, what the hell does that mean and where is it?” Mabel asked, laughing.  
“Basically, our world and another world are seeping into each other, meaning that something has slipped into our world. I was taking a look and the rift has closed and so what I’m picking up is the shockwave of it. That all means that someone or something has made its way here. So, I’m gonna have my first journal entry as a full resident of Gravity Falls!”  
“Holy shit, bro. Let’s get some equipment and head the fuck out!”  
We walk side-by-side to the lab and go through the security measures. Once we enter the lab, we grab readers, books, plasma weapons, and full outfits of protective clothing. We look at each other and we both agree that we look super badass.   
“So, the lab and our convertible need badass names to go with our badass look,” Mabel said. I laugh but realize she is 100% serious.  
“So, we got Mystery-Twins for us. For the convertible how about Badass-Mobile? And then I have no clue for the lab.” I reply.  
“Umm… how about Pines HQ or P-HQ for short?” She suggests.  
“Oooh, I like that. And the Badass Mobile can be like BA-Mobile,” I add. We both look at each other and nod our heads. We hop into the car, this time with Mabel driving. I look at our completely intact car, “So, how is the car still perfectly how I left it before my fit?”  
“Oh, Soos was a doll and fixed it up super quickly. If you look closely, the car’s a slightly different blue. He did a full paint job. I don’t know how but he took it away for ten hours and came back with it brand new. That man is a genius. Well… in some instances,” Mabel replied as we felt the wind blow through our hair, the warm summer heat unable to touch us just yet as long as we are in the moving car.  
“He definitely has his moments,” I say as the conversation kind of drops. Not by lack of something to say, but by choice. We like to take a few moments before each mission to slow down our thoughts, unclench our burrowed eyebrows, and let plans of action almost coarse through us. I relax and let the waves of high-speed wind ripple through my body as I think of all the possibilities behind this first case. A rift in dimension… very exciting for my first journal entry.  
The car stops near a curve in the road and we take out the map Ford gave us. We follow the map to the sight of one of his labs. This lab is where the shockwaves are ringing out from. We step quietly through the forest, with our aging bringing more coordination and the ability to actually stay silent for a few moments just to get to where we need to be. We near the main destination and let up a bit on our formal, almost battle-like stance.  
“So, on top of that tree, there is a bird’s nest. We need to grab an egg that has a hidden button on it. The tree branches will become somewhat of a spiral staircase, allowing the one up in the tree to come down and continue with the stairs underground together,” I tell her, reading from a place in the journal I was told to look at by a mark near the lab we were standing above on the map.  
“Well, Dipper, you know that climbing trees is my thing, so I’ll head up,” Mabel said. I nodded and watched as she swiftfully stepped from one branch to another until she made it to where the nest was. She shuffled around in the nest then pressed something, making the tree branches spiral. I enter the staircase from ground level and she steps down from the tree from the top of the tree.   
We both travel down and are greeted by another large lab with tens of halls stemming from the walls of the cave-like room. I lean to the right side of the stairs and pull a lever, retracting the staircase and putting everything back to a normal state. I set down my bag and take out a large reader with wires and buttons sticking out from all ends, looking like something out of a shitty 90s ghost hunting tv show. I begin to track down which hallway is picking up the most concentration of energy.  
“Okay so it looks like the hall we’re looking for is over here. Come and get your plasma out. I’ll get mine,” I declare, giving her a second to pull her weapon out while I grab mine and put the duffel strap over my shoulder. We walk down the hall in a stance ready for a full-out gun fight. I follow my reader’s directions down the hall, around a few turns, then finally to a large vault door.   
“Are you ready, Dipper?” Mabel asked. I nodded, opening the door more easily than I thought I’d be able to. The vault door almost seemed to open as if the lock was broken and the hinges were loosened.   
We walked inside a dark room that looked like a solid wall of black. I felt the side of the wall near the door, looking for a switch. I turned on the light and a single fluorescent bulb turned on above a body lying on the ground. The body was male, he had yellow and black hair, he had a torn suit on. I run up and kneel next to him. I flip him over on his side. His face was scratched and he had dried blood all around his face but from my angle I could see him looking up and smiling. He chuckled and through a hoarse voice I almost recognized the laugh. Almost. Until he looks up and begins to say something.  
“Did ya miss me, Pine Tree?”

 






	2. I Have Some Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a malnourished, human Bill Cipher staying in Dipper's room, Dipper must figure out what the hell to do with him.

Chapter 2  
“Dipper. We have to lock the door and leave him. What the hell has he ever done for us? We owe him nothing. Especially not his life,” Mabel exclaimed as I continued to sit there with Bill next to me. He had passed out again after he spoke those words.  
“Mabel, then we would be just like him. Just in case we found something we needed to take home, I brought two matching bracelets that cut off any magic that he has. There is a small remote that has a freeze button that will even stop him from moving. We’ll be safe to interrogate him and keep him in the lab until we make a decision to get rid of him or not,” I tell her. She grabs the bracelets and a blindfold.  
“Here’s a blindfold. It’ll keep him from finding out how to bypass the security,” Mabel says, reluctantly allowing me to let Bill come with us.  
I put the bracelets on both of Bill’s wrists and put the purple blindfold on. I throw him over my shoulder and walk out of the room. I shut the door behind me and I begin to walk to the exit of the lab. I have Mabel pull the lever and open the door.We walk out and I continue to carry Bill until we get to the car. We set him in the trunk so if we get stopped, they won’t see a blindfolded, incapacitated person just sitting in the car.  
Mabel starts the car and we drive off. We keep quiet and blast some music. Specifically Lorde at Mabel’s request. Our car pulls into the shack driveway and we put up the roof and get out of the car. We pop the trunk and I sling Bill over my shoulder, then carry him to the lab entrance. We bypass the security and I carry him to my room.  
“Mabel, can you go grab the extra mattress from the extra room down the hallway left of the portal?” I ask, setting Bill temporarily on my bed and taking off his blindfold.  
“Are you sure you want him in your room? We have, like, ten extra rooms that are much more secure and what’s better is there’s no way he can even try to kill you,” Mabel said as she started to leave the room.  
“No, he’s safer here where I can keep an eye on him,” I replied. She rolled her eyes and left. After a few minutes, she came back with a mattress and throws it on the floor.  
“I’m gonna go nap. There’s a vent from here to my room. Don’t go out of your room or I won’t be able to hear you. The rest is sound proof.”  
“Yeah, I got you, sis. Don’t worry.”  
“I’m gonna fuckin’ worry.”  
“Just don’t have an aneurysm, okay?” I tell her, rolling my eyes. She sighs out an okay under her breath. She slams the door as a way to show her anger towards the whole situation.  
“What’s her problem,” Bill grumbles. I jump back a bit and he laughs but his face twists in pain as if it hurts just to move.  
“Don’t move, Bill. I have some food in my mini-fridge,” I reach in and grab a sandwich and soda, “This’ll get your blood sugar back up. Also, here’s a shit ton of water.”  
“Thank you, Pine Tree,” Bill choked out and then began to shove food into his mouth as fast as he can.  
“I didn’t think you were capable of feeling thankful,” I said, cocking my head to the side, letting out a small smile.  
“Well, if you haven’t caught on yet, I have changed a lot,” Bill told me, finishing off the sandwich and drinking all of the water I brought him.  
“I guess I did notice that a little,” I said, us both chuckling, “How about you nap a bit more. I’ll let you sleep on my mattress. It’s more comfortable than that lumpy thing.”  
“Huh. You really do trust easily,” Bill remarked, touching my cheek. I blush and pull away.  
“Well, I’ll leave you to it, I guess. Um, I’ll come back later with more food and water and probably more sugar. I’m gonna lock the door because, uh, I gotta, like, be cautious ya know?” I stutter nervously, looking away and leaving. What the hell was that? I shrug and head to the main lab.  
I walk up to the top floor and start to cook a large meal out of the stuff Stan and Ford bought us before we arrived. Those two are definitely hover-parents at heart. I grab one of the many cook-books Mabel refused to get rid of when we were packing our belongings back at our parents’ house. I try to find a book that would give a full meal of everything a human would need, but to no avail. So, I googled it and I came to a website literally dedicated to if someone found a malnourished child. Good enough and very well fitting. After beginning to cook, Mabel came in and looked at me with a hint of anger but too tired to show the full emotion.  
“Dude, don’t worry. He’s napping on my bed and the door is locked. If he tries to open the door a loud siren will go through the whole house and I will press this button that will paralyze him,” I assure her and hold up the remote with the button on it. I sigh and slide down to the floor, “Please, just trust me. When I found the journal it told me to trust no one and I figured out that same day that you are the person I can trust. Please, just can you do the same for me, sis?”  
“Yes. I’m sorry, Dip. I just want you to be safe so you don’t get hurt. Do you know how hard it was for me to see you go down the other day?” Mabel asked me. She slid down next to me and put her head on my shoulder, “I’m just scared you’ll get hurt, okay?”  
“I know. I’m sorry, I just need you to trust me right now. I promise that if things go south, I won’t hesitate to end this,” I explain, tears threatening to fall. Who knew my first few days here would be such a wreck. But maybe that’s just the reason I came here. Life was maybe just too ordinary.  
“Awkward sibling hug?” Mabel asked.  
“Awkward sibling hug.” We hug, still on the floor.  
“Pat, pat,” We say simultaneously, then standing up.  
“Alright, now let me help you cook. You’ve always been a bad cook and dude I know exactly how to feed someone in that condition. A lot of calories and every type of food there is. We need to give it to him in smaller doses though. We can’t overload him,” Mabel told me, taking the cooking supplies out of my hand, “And this also means some fuckin’ tunes, bitch.”  
“Which playlist?” I ask, picking up my phone and turning on the bluetooth speaker.  
“Um. How about the ‘get pumped’ one,” Mabel suggests, I nod my head and turn it on. It’s compiled of every genre there is. We start making the food, dancing and singing. We bake and cook the largest serving of everything. We take paper plates and put all of what we made on them, organizing it, making it look like a little lunchable. We cover the servings in seran wrap and we bring them all down to my room, putting the in the mini-fridge. I take one out and wake Bill up.  
“Bill. I have more food for you,” I say and he opens his eyes slowly. He shows a small smile, looking way better even after just having food, water, and a nap.  
“I would definitely like some of that,” He says to me eagerly, making cute grabby hands.  
“Okay, well, we’re minimizing your meals to serving sizes so you don’t over-eat and get hurt,” I explain to him, subconsciously putting my hand on his shoulder and then handing him the plate with the other.  
“You’re so… caring, Pine Tree,” He tells me, almost astonished looking, “After… all I’ve done.”  
“Shh. Don’t think of that right now. Just eat your food and get more rest. If you wake up in the middle of the night, drink some water,” I assure him. He nods his head, then looks at my hand that’s still on his shoulder.  
“Ahem. Pine Tree?” He says, drawing my attention to my hand on his shoulder.  
“Oh, um, I’m sorry,” I reply, blushing and taking my hand off of his shoulder.  
“Oh, don’t be sorry, Pine Tree. I don’t mind, I just need to eat with that arm,” He tells me, smirking and even winking. I blush even harder and look to Mabel. She rolls her eyes, trying to hide a smile, and leaves.  
“Um, I’m gonna go to the lab and put some things together and then I’ll be back. You can sleep in my bed. I’ll take the mattress on the floor,” I say and begin to leave, but he grabs my wrist and stops me.  
“Let’s just share a bed, Pine Tree. This is a queen size, isn’t it?” He suggests, I’m scared I’ll stammer if I talk, so I just nod my head. He lets my hand go and leans back on the bed. I scratch my head and leave the room. I decide not to think about what just happened.  
I walk up to my lab bench and take out my journal from my jacket and set it on the table. I open it and turn to the first page. I shuffle through the drawer, looking for a pen. I find a pen that has everyone’s name on it- mine, Ford’s, Stan’s, Mabel’s, Wendy’s, Soos’s, and even Waddles. It puts a smile on my face and I start to write.  
Today I found Bill. Well, a humanoid Bill. He was malnourished and dehydrated. I am keeping him in my room and feeding him periodically. I am not sure how benevolent he is, but I have questions and will keep him. Here are questions I need answers to:  
Is he benevolent?  
Does he still have his powers?  
How did he get here?  
I will give answers as I receive them.  
I draw a portrait of him on the side, doodling to avoid going back. I haven’t been scared of any monster since my first few summers. I’ve become desensitized. Maybe I’ve reserved fear for the thing that was responsible for my desensitization. Bill.  
I sigh and shut the book. I open the drawer to put the pen away, but end up shutting the drawer and putting the pen in my pocket. I leave the book on the lab bench and head back to my room. I’m anxious to go back to him. I guess I’m not scared, but anxious. That’s the best description. I open the door to him lying in my bed, with every single blanket I have piled on top of him.  
“Oh, Pine. I thought you’d never come back. I’m so cold. Help,” Bill whines.  
“Wow. Human Bill is so much more whiny,” I tell him, leaning against the closed door.  
“It’s because I’m cooolllld,” He continues on.  
“Well, that’s the last of my blankets and until you recover from your extreme deprivation of literally everything a person needs to survive, your body temperature is gonna be fucked,” I explain.  
“Whatever. I have all of the blankets but I need some extra body heat. Come here,” He beckons. I freeze and walk over anxiously, reluctantly. No, not reluctantly, cautiously. He sees my hesitation and continues to speak, “Come on, Pine Tree. I don’t bite. Unless you like that.”  
“God. That doesn’t help,” I say, finally getting into bed with him. As soon as I get under the covers, he basically climbs on top of me, intertwining all of our body parts.  
“Hm, soft,” Bill whispers into my neck, making me shiver. I feel his breathing even out and realize there is no moving him even if I wanted to, so I let myself drift off as well.  
When I wake up we’re even more tangled up than we were when we fell asleep. I turn my head over and see his cheeks finally filling out with color. I lean closer to him and realize he hasn’t showered yet so I decide I’ll wait for him to wake up then help him in the shower.  
“Wow, Pine, no need to stare,” Bill says suddenly and I jump back.  
“I, uh, well. I was just remembering that you haven’t showered yet. You’re starting to smell,” I say, trying to recover.  
“I don’t know if I can shower by myself. I might need help,” He says, scooting closer.  
“I think you can manage,” I tell him and he pouts but gets up and heads to the bathroom attached to my room anyway. After a few minutes I hear the water running and the fan on.  
I’m about to get up when I see that I’ve woken up with a problem down there. I reach my hand down and pull down my sweatpants and pull out my hard cock. I begin to stroke it and I immediately moan. I realize sleeping in the same room as my sister prevented me from doing this for a long time. I reach over to the nightstand and grab the small bottle of lube. I put some on my finger and reach down to my ass.  
I circle my finger around my hole and finally stick one in. I moan even louder this time, biting my lip to keep myself quiet. I slowly put two more fingers in and fuck myself onto my fingers. I stroke myself harder and faster, thrusting my fingers inside myself deeper. I let my head fall back and close my eyes in bliss. I feel myself about to cum and see Bill’s face flash through my mind. Caught up in the moment I whisper “Bill” to myself and come.  
I pant and let myself calm down, not yet to the point of clarity to realize what I just did. I pull up my pants and clean myself off with the tissues in the nightstand drawer where the lube was. I put everything back and lay down on my bed in a calming bliss. I finally think of what just happened and bolt up, opening my eyes. Did I really just come thinking about Bill? What the actual fuck? No. I was just caught up in the moment. It means nothing. Right as I finish that thought, Bill walks out of the shower with a towel around his waist. I look up at him startled and blushing.  
“Are you alright, Pine Tree? You look a little flustered,” Bill remarks, going over to my drawer and pulling out some of my clothes. He puts on a pair of my briefs and then a crop top I have left from my hipster phase. He takes a plate of food from the fridge and crawls back into the bed, leaning against the wall that my bed is pushed up against and resting his legs on top of me.  
“Why are you wearing my clothes, Bill? And of all of them, why those?” I ask, rolling my eyes and laying my arm across my face.  
“What? Do they not look good on me?” He teases and pouts, finishing the last bite of his food and crawling on top of me, putting his legs on either side of me.  
“No. That’s not what I’m saying and get off of me,” I tell him, alarmingly as he’s literally straddling me.  
“I thought you’d like them, Pine Tree,” He pouts and looks up at me, moving his hips against my crotch so subtly that I almost believe it was an accident. Almost.  
“Bill, get off of me, please,” I beg, half-heartedly nudging him off of me. With one last rut into my hips, he climbs off, “Okay. I’m going to go upstairs and grab breakfast. You just please stay here and don’t get into anything.”  
I stand up and walk out, locking the door behind me. I lean against it, breathing slowly and clearing my head, getting rid of my half hard boner. Once I’m all taken care of, I walk upstairs and reach into the cupboard of the kitchen. I pull out some frosted flakes and make a bowl of cereal. As I just begin to eat, Mabel comes out of her room, her hair a complete mess and her pyjama pants and shirt wrinkled to hell.  
“Mornin’, bro,” Mabel greets, walking over and making a bowl of cereal herself then sitting down.  
“Morning. I realized Bill hadn’t showered so I made him. Later I’m gonna go down there with my journal and get some answers,” I reply, finishing off the last spoonful of frosted flakes.  
“Probably a good idea. We really need to know what the fuck he’s doing here. I’m not just worried about you, ya know. The entire town of Gravity Falls is at stake. I know a lot of the stuff in this place is but Bill’s one of the only ones to have actually almost destroyed it,” Mabel says, sitting across from me and starting to eat.  
“Yeah,” I sigh, standing up and walking to the sink. I rinse out my bowl and stick it in the dishwasher along with the fork, “Well, I guess now’s as good a time as ever to get those answers out of him.”  
“Alright. Come to the lounge area before the security lock and watch some Archer with me later,” Mabel says, taking in another bite of food after. I nod and walk downstairs. I go past the security and enter the lab. I grab my journal, take a deep breath, and walk in. I see Bill sitting there, watching some DIY Network show on my mini-tv. I turn it off and face him.  
“What was that for?” Bill asked, outraged.  
“I have some questions to ask you.”


	3. He Lied to Me

Chapter 3  
“I have some questions to ask you,” I tell him. He looks at me and visibly gulps. I walk over to my desk and sit down, turning my chair around to face him as he sits on my bed.   
“Um. Okay. I owe my life to you. Fire away,” He says, reluctantly, turning slightly to face me more.  
“I have main questions and I’ll most likely have a few in between about each topic. You can’t fully prove any of these, so please answer honestly and I’ll trust you. Please trust me as well,” I start, staring at him with plee.  
“Okay. If you trust me, I’ll trust you,” Bill says, looking at me with eyes that almost make me melt. I close my eyes and shake my head. I need to focus.  
“Alright. First, could I consider you benevolent? Like, are you gonna try to take over the world?” I begin, raising my eyebrow, waiting for his answer.  
“I’m not gonna take over the world, I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else, and I’ve started to feel things like empathy and whatnot… so I guess you could call me benevolent,” Bill answers, his expression seeming genuine and thoughtful.  
“Okay, well, next is, do you still have your powers?” I ask, deciding to move from the uncomfortable desk chair to the bed, sitting next to him. We face each other with our laps criss-crossed.  
“No, they were taken from me by another dream demon who wanted my status. In Hell, status is determined by power. She was the second highest and was very competitive. I was at the top and was even the most powerful over-all demon. I guess you could say I was almost considered the devil himself,” He explains, putting his head in his hand and rubbing his face. He looks back up and continues, “Her name is Invidia. We used to be a thing back in the day, but then I found out she was just using me. I didn’t know why I felt so hurt by it at the time. I didn’t think a demon could feel, but she made me weak. I guess that was her mission.”  
“Damn. I’m so sorry. I’ve been hurt in a similar way. I dated this guy who used me to make his ex jealous. When it didn’t work he told the entire school I was bisexual and I was relentlessly bullied. I tried to tell people that he was gay but he told the whole school that I came on to him. Of course they believed the smartest, most athletic person in the school. I guess it all comes down to jealousy, doesn’t it?” I tell him. He nods his head in agreement.  
“Yeah, I guess it does,” Bill says and sighs, “So what’s the next question?”  
“Oh, right, So, how did you get here?” I ask, refocusing on the matter at hand.  
“Well, Invidia invited me to her place, saying she wanted to talk and apologize for what she did all those years back. I went to her room and she made up a glasses of wine for us. I saw what she was doing and poured the wine on her white carpet. She turned back and I began to yell at her. It was a mess and a clutter of emotions and in that chaos she injected a substance into my arm. I fell unconscious and woke up later in front of the guy who judges who is at the top of the hierarchy. He said without my powers I was to be forced out of Hell. I told him to put me in Gravity Falls because I knew I could get into one of Ford’s labs,” Bill explains, grimacing as he looks back on the memories.  
“Damn. That sucks shit,” I say, knowing that there’s really nothing else I could say. I can’t relate and I can’t begin to understand the pain he went through.  
“Yeah. At least you found me and have given me what I really, honestly don’t deserve,” Bill admits.  
“Dude, the fact that you can admit what you’ve done wrong is more than I could have asked for,” I assure him, but he looks up and I see tears in his eyes.  
“I tried to kill you and your friends and destroy your city. I deserve nothing. You should have just let me starve…” Bill says, starting to sob now.   
“Don’t do this, Bill. If you want to change then you need to let go of the past,” I try to tell him but he shudders away and shakes his head.  
“It’s so hard,” He manages through the tears. I put my hands on each side of his face, wiping the tears away with my thumbs. He looks up at me and I lean forward and touch our foreheads together.  
“Listen to me. I will help you and I will be there for you as long as you want. If you get well and want to leave and go back and get your powers back then I’ll let you. If you wanna go at any point, I’ll let you, as long as you don’t hurt anyone. I won’t trap you and I won’t make you stay, but I will help you if you want. I will let you stay if you want,” I tell him.   
“I don’t want to leave,” He cries out. I look into his eyes and my heart feels like it cries out to him. We make eye contact, then I lean in without thinking and our lips meet. We both are surprised and we jump back slightly at the same time.  
“Um, I-I’m sorry,” I apologize, moving my hand to my lips.  
“Don’t be. It was nice,” He assures me.  
“Wanna do that again?” I ask and he nods his head quickly. We move in quickly and start to move our lips together desperately like we could be ripped apart at any moment. He pushes me back onto the bed underneath us.  
We continue to kiss but pause only to take off our shirts. He moves back but this time kissing down my neck. I start to moan and he sucks on the sensitive spot that prompted the moan. I felt a mark forming on my collarbone. Once he marks it, he moves to a different spot and starts to mark all over me. He moves down lower and mouths around my cock over my pants. He unzips my pants and then slides down my underwear with it. He starts at the tip and then moves his head down my dick, bobbing up and down. Uncontrollably, I moan loudly, biting my lip to smother my moans. He chuckles darkly as he comes off my dick, the moves his head back up, leaving a trail of saliva behind and as he licks all the way up my chest. Once he gets to my neck, he bites down harder, drawing barely a drop of blood. It should hurt, I should cry in pain, but instead I moan in pleasure.   
He laughs again, this time, a tint of red blood on his lips. He looks so gorgeous, his form filling out quickly after being starved, his muscle regenerating, his blonde hair becoming more vibrant, and his dark, almost completely black skin glowing. I lick my lips and pull him by his head back to me. We continue to kiss for a long time. It’s passionate, slow, and savoring. I don’t know why but I never want his lips to leave mine. It fills me with a heat that spreads all the way to my fingertips. He pulls away, biting my lip and tugging at it on his way up, then letting go. He takes off the rest of his clothes, and I run my hands across every portion of his body. I turn him over so our places are switch and I start to nibble at his neck, drawing bruises and some blood. I climb up and grind my ass on his dick, moaning as I push down. He grabs my hard dick and pumps it, rubbing the slit at the top as precum drips out. Soon we are both cumming hard. After riding our orgasms out, I reach over and grab a tissue to clean us off with.  
Once we are cleaned off we lay down and fall into a deep sleep, tired out after what we just did. Speaking of, the reality of what just happened has yet to really sink in. So, until it does, I am left with a blissful feeling of post-sex euphoria and a deep infatuation for the man that tried to kill me.   
Later, I wake up and look over. I smile until the realization hits me like a shock of electricity wracking my entire body. I look back at my journal open and thrown on the floor. I stand up and get dressed. I write down the rest of the earlier answers, then describe what just happened. I look over and see him. I scan his body, biting my lip, the same warm feeling for him I felt earlier popping up once again. Infatuation is the best way to describe it. I look at the bruises on his neck and feel the ones on my own neck. I feel dried blood. I scrape at it and fresh blood comes out. Suddenly my brain kicks into motion. I know what I need to do.  
I walk over to him and scrape off the blood on his neck, drawing fresh droplets. I quickly and quietly run out and grab fresh gloves, along with a small microscope slide and other small pieces of equipment that will help me in my mission. I tiptoe back into the room, slide on my gloves, and steal a sample of his blood, knowing I can use this to confirm the answers he gave me. If I compare it to the blood of another magical being, I can see if there are still traces in his DNA. I walk out to the lab and go into one of the smaller rooms that has all of my blood and DNA samples, along with microscopes and other pieces of equipment for my DNA studies.   
The room has clean, light blue walls and white and black furniture filling it. The tables are a clean white and the microscopes and examination machines are black and white. I turn on the lights. I changed them from fluorescent to clearer, more crisp lights. I lay the slide on the long white table and turn on the computer that shows a high resolution picture of what the microscope and analysis machine sees. I stand and retrieve a vial of DNA from a fairy I found nesting in the woods. It was already dead, but luckily for me, freshly dead so I could extract fresh blood uncontaminated. I kept this from last summer. My specialty was biology of magical beings, so that’s how I helped Stan and Ford while they were gone for the summer. They would leave me samples to analyze and a list of other animals they needed me to extract samples from and where to find said animals. Now that this is my permanent residence and Stan and Ford are indefinitely traveling, stopping by for a week or so here and there, I have to learn more about the other fields of study. But luckily for me now, I have a job to do that requires this knowledge.  
I take both samples and put them side-by-side in the analysis machine. I click the on button, then the analyze one. I click the settings button and instruct it to compare the two. I have it run a diagnostic report, highlighting the similarities and differences in different colors: blue for differences and red for similarities. I move back to the computer and connect it to the machine, downloading the pages and pages of files that read out the DNA combinations of the two. I drag and drop the similarities and differences into separate folders. I look in the journal on the shelf that has records of the type of DNA that is found in all magical beings. In the search box at the top of each new file, I type in the strands of DNA which cuts out the parts of the record that show this strand. My eyes begin to fill with tears as I see the results.  
He lied to me.


	4. What Does it Say?

Chapter 4  
I save all of the files to a usb drive and put it in my pocket. Then I turn off the machines and later the lights as I walk out. I walk to the main lab and grab my belt that contains a paralysis gun and another gun that is filled with a bullet laced with the precise mixture that kills a magical being. I walk back into my room and look at him. A bitter and distraught take over me the same way infatuation did.   
“Cipher. Wake up,” I bark at him. He looks up, still naked, his upper-half becoming visible as the blanket falls just to cover his lower.  
“W-what’s wrong, Dipper?” He asks, a hurt, terrified look on his face. My heart aches and I almost want to forgive him, but I just figured out he could be using this as a plot against the town and the world.  
“This,” I say and hold up the drive. His face looks understandably confused as I walk over and push it into the laptop on my desk, then I pull out the record that details the magical DNA within him, “It says you still have magic in your blood and your blood is almost a complete match with the fairy’s blood.”  
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any magic ability. It was taken,” He exclaims defensively.  
“Don’t bullshit me, Cipher. You made me like you. You made me feel emotion toward you that I’ve never felt with anyone else. I knew you were fucked up, but this is fucking low. Was everything a lie? The demon that betrayed you? You liking me? Y-you…” I struggle to finish my sentence as anger comes out of me in the form of tears. They water but I hold them mostly back.  
“I don’t have any magic ability! I promise! I don’t want to lie to you and I haven’t at all since you found me,” He attempts to assure me but without thinking I reach down to grab my gun. I look down and it’s not the paralyzer. It’s the lethal one. But I’m so pissed that I hold it up to point at his heart.  
“Maybe I should have left you to die. Maybe I should have listened to Mabel and not trusted you. Maybe… maybe I should kill you,” I scream, the tears I was holding back pouring out.  
“Dipper, please-” He’s cut off by the door to my bedroom swinging open. Mabel grabs the gun as it goes off and the bullet lodges deep in the wall, hurting no one. I slip to the ground against the wall, my knees to my chest and the tears pouring so fast and heavy that I don’t even feel them, just a hot stream going down my face without my permission.   
“Dipper, what the fuck?” Mabel exclaims, but I’m unable to talk. I just point a shaky finger at the laptop, then go back to hugging my knees. She walks over and bends down to meet the computer. Her eyes go wide for a second, then they close and she rubs her face with her hands. She looks just like Ford. I see Ford there for a second. I see I’m safe now that he’s here. I see that there is nothing to worry about. For a second, I’m back to last summer when we were in what used to be his room and is now mine. We’re laughing and recording our newest discoveries. This feeling of familial love sinks in and I stop hyperventilating. I stand up, and shake off the vision.  
“Dude, this just means that he has magic in his body and if you compare it to the fairy’s, it’s immensely weaker. There is nothing to worry about. All this means is, if he wanted to, he could rebuild his magic slowly through practice and different incantations,” Mabel explains and I calm down. Bill walk over to me and reaches out his arms. I hug him tightly, never wanting to let go. I feel the infatuation again and realize it’s the beginning of love.   
“I can’t fucking believe I did that. I’m so sorry,” I tell him as we continue to hug. He rubs my back.  
“I understand the distrust. After what I did… you deserve to be wary,” Bill assures me, his voice that was once terrifying and anger now soft and calming.  
“I was just so scared that I didn’t take time to look at it as I should have. I only looked at the similarities and not the differences,” I whisper, crying still.  
“It’s oka-” Bill is once again cut off by Mabel.  
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s all go to the diner and we can have some delicious food and forgive everyone in a big ole bongo circle,” Mabel interjects, “Also, Bill, put some clothes on. You’re in your fucking boxers just strutin’ around.”  
“Oh, right,” Bill replies sheepishly, “Sorry.”  
“It’s okay, buddy,” Mabel says, starting to leave, but halts and turns back around, “Oh, and, if y’all are gonna fuck, shut the damn vent.”  
“Damn, I forgot that was there,” I say astonished, laughing a little bit.  
“Well, I didn’t,” With that, she leaves and we all get dressed. Bill and I exchange a few apology kisses. The guilt still hitting my body like a sandstorm, but his lips and presence becomes a shelter house for me.  
Once we arrive at the diner, we sit down in the booth we always have. It’s pretty much reserved for us. No one else sits there except for the Pines family. We look at the menus and just talk. It’s simple, but sometimes talking like close friends, laughing and joking, is the only thing a person needs.  
“How can I help you folks?” Lazy Susan asks us with a smile so warm that I almost forget her creepy glass eye. She looks over at Bill and her smile widens at the new customer, “And who might this be. Are one of y’all crazy kids datin’ this handsome, young man.”  
“I am, actually,” I answer, blushing.  
“Maybe he’ll be the only Pines who isn’t too busy to help work here. We lost Soos when he went to be Mister Mystery. What a great guy. His mom and I were best friends in High School. Well, a little more than friends. But that didn’t work out.We were both too insane for a romantic relationship so now we knit together on sundays,” Susan babbles, talking endlessly as old ladies tend to do. FInally she takes our orders. Two pancakes with butter, whip cream, and syrup for Mabel and I and Bill gets a belgian waffle with peanut butter and syrup. That little heathen.  
“Fucking peanut butter? I’m breaking up with you,” I say, laughing. Bill’s face goes pink.  
“So, we’re boyfriends now?” He asks and now my face is pinks. I cringe inwardly at myself, anxiety bubbling up.  
“I’m sorry. Just. Like. If you want to be…” I stumble over my words. He just laughs and shakes his head at me.  
“Of course I want to. I was just kidding,” Bill reassures me. He kisses me on the cheek and every anxiety I’ve ever felt washes away.  
“Ew,” Mabel interjects.  
“You’re just jealous, honey,” Bill teases and she shakes her head.  
“I got a lovely fiance at my humble abode coming up tomorrow so I’m good,” Mabel replies, disgusted at the idea.  
“Ooooh, what’s his name?” Bill asks excitedly. He went from having a complete lack of emotions to having the most I’ve ever seen anyone have.  
“Donny,” Mabel said dreamily, “I actually met him here two summers ago. He’s a vampire.”  
“Nice. Those are pretty cool. Just make sure he’s one of the ones that are on the west side of the forest. The others are demonic and shit. Constantly making deals with demons and fairies. They’re fucked up,” Bill cautions her.  
“Don’t worry. He was born on the east but after two months they realized what life really meant. That it was important to any living soul. Even though they are not technically living, they are still apart of some life-form. So, they picked up and left to the west end. It’s a really nice place. Dipper and I go for dinner and tea there every other sunday. Or if they’re making meatloaf.” Mabel explains. Bill nods his head and then I see a man walk in and his skin is dark black but with no base warmth and yellow eyes.  
“Speak of the devil!” I exclaim and go up and hug Donny.   
“Don’t hog him. I’m the one marrying him,” Mabel yells and separates us. She kisses him sweetly and he sits down with us.  
“Who’s this?” Donny asks slyly, already knowing we are probably together.  
“Oh this is Bill. My boyfriend,” I say sheepishly. Donny’s face goes dark and a glint of fear passes through his eyes.  
“Bill Cipher?” Donny asks and stands up. He backs up a little.  
“Babe, it’s okay. He’s become almost completely human. He has feelings and shit now. We’ve been nursing him back to health since he was locked in one of Ford’s labs for like a week. He was extremely malnourished,” Mabel reassures him. He hesitantly sits back down.  
“Have you tested his blood?” Donny asks, still suspicious.  
“Yeah, and get this. He still has magic DNA but it’s inactive. I think that he’ll be able to regain his powers without losing his emotions,” I say excitedly. Bill looks up at Donny with a guilty look in his eyes.  
“Can I prove to you in anyway that you don’t have to worry about me as a threat?” Bill asks and reaches out his hand on the table, open-palmed. Donny reaches out and squeezes his hand.  
“You asking that is proof,” Donny says sincerely smiling at him, then he continues, this time looking at me, “If Dipper trusts you then I do too.”  
“That’s sweet,” Mabel interjects in a high, squeaky voice. The voice she gets when she’s truly happy.  
“But this doesn’t mean our bromance will end right?” Donny asks, feigning a worried look.  
“Never, my dear Donny,” I tell him and put my hand on his. We both bust out laughing,  
“Am I gonna have to worry about you two,” Bill jokes and Mabel looks at him.  
“I’ve been asking the same thing since these two became friends,” Mabel answers. We all laugh. Under the table I search for Bill’s hand. He intertwines our fingers, then I kiss his cheek.  
“Y’all are cute,” Donny comments and Mabel smiles and nods in agreement.  
“I know,” Bill jokes with fake look of egotism.   
We all continue talking and laughing. Bill fits right in our little group. Everything is perfect. I have a boyfriend who cares for me, Mabel has a fiance that cares for her, and in turn we all care for each other. None of us could ask for anymore.  
Once we return back to the Shack, we all help Donny settle in to Mabel’s room. He has an entire U-Haul truck filled with his stuff. It takes much more time than it should have, but finally we get it all situated.  
Bill and I go downstairs to our room. I let him see how to get through the extensive security measures. Who’d have thought I would have let him in so easily. However, even if he escapes, he’ll just be a harmless human running around that we could take out in two seconds max. We’ve trained for these kinds of things since we were twelve.  
We go to the lab library deeper down the hallway next to the one that leads to my analysis room. I search for a book on lost powers and how to regenerate them. Bill sits in one of the comfy chairs in the immense library. I grab the book and make some coffee for both of us. I put an excessive amount of sugar and milk in our cups. This’ll be the first time he has it. He’ll want the milk and sugar. I walk over to the comfy chair next to his and set the books I gathered and the coffee cups on the table.  
“Hmm. Never had coffee,” Bill says and takes a sip, “This shit is good. Goddamn. I thought it was supposed to be bitter.”  
“It is, but I put sugar and milk in it,” I tell him. He nods his head and just takes a larger sip, smiling.  
“I like the feeling of warm drinks in my stomach,” Bill says absentmindedly.  
“I never think about it much but I feel the same way. Also, most people don’t like coffee breath, especially kissing someone with coffee breath, but I like it. It means we sat together and drank coffee. It makes me happy,” I explain to him. He chugs his coffee, then kisses me. Comes and sits on my lap, legs straddling me. We kiss sweetly, prolonging each movement. My body fills with a deep intimacy that I’ve never felt before.  
After a minute or so more, he removes himself back to his seat. He looks at me with big heart-eyes that warm my body and give me goosebumps.   
“How was that for coffee breath?” He jokes and giggles softly. I join him and laugh for a second.  
“Wonderful,” I tell him and we smile, looking into each other’s eyes. His yellow eyes in contrast with his dark skin accentuate every beautiful feature of his. He’s wearing my clothes that are bigger on him but somehow fit him so well. After a moment of being lost in looking at him, I sigh and look away and towards the books, “If you want to rebuild your powers, then we should probably start our research.”  
“You’re right. Even if I get my powers back will I still have these feelings. I’ve felt so many emotions and even though some are hurtful, I love them because they make the others so much better. If I can’t keep my feelings then I don’t want to give them up for a luxury I can live without,” He stresses to me and I nod at him.  
“Don’t worry. We will find out if it’s possible,” I assure him. I lean over and kiss his cheek. Then I pull back and hand him a book, “Get reading, baby.”  
We sit silently but comfortably and read. The quiet of the library mixed with his breathing and the sound of pages turning relaxes me more than I think I’ve ever been. I let the words sink in as we pour through each book, every page, waiting to find something. We stay there for hours, reading and taking notes. We decided to make notes on what we read and then discuss after. I finish my book as it is slightly shorter after about three hours. I pick up another and start reading. About another half hour later, Bill finishes his. We compile our notes and ready ourselves to read to each other.  
“Okay. I found that I can, in fact, learn while keeping my emotions. I also read through the steps of how to do so. Depending on the person it will take anywhere for three months to three years. Then I got to an interesting part that made me think. It says that some mortals are able to learn magic. There is a certain gene that is only activated by a weird potion. If you have that gene then that means you may be able to learn alongside me. And it’s hereditary, meaning Mabel might be able to as well,” Bill spits out excitedly. I try not to get my hopes up, but they shoot up quickly.  
“So, what makes you think I have this gene?” I ask him.  
“Because I can feel it when you kiss me. I thought it was just what humans refer to as butterflies but… I don’t know. It feels different,” Bill replies.  
“Okay, well, let’s go to the lab and test it,” I say. We grab our books and walk out and head to the lab.  
“So, how are we supposed to figure out if you have this gene?” Bill asks as we enter the lab.  
“I’ll show you,” I tell him with a smile on my face, “It’s one of the most fun things to do in the lab. It makes me feel smart.”  
“Well, you sure are smart.”  
“Thanks, doll,” I say, starting the process, explaining it to him as I go, “So, first we take a bit of my blood,” I grab a needle from the side table and prick myself quickly. Bill looks a little horrified.  
“Doesn’t that hurt?” He asks.  
“Not really,” I reply, shrugging.  
“So, what next?”  
“Well, I then carefully place the blood from the clean needle onto the clean slide,” I explain, emphasizing the clean part just in case he ends up ever helping me with this, “Then we push it into this machine Ford built.”  
“Yeah…” He says. I hear the hurt in his voice and look over, he’s looking down.  
“Don’t worry. I’m working on a letter to send them. I’m recording basically everything we’ve been through so far.”  
“Do you think they’ll forgive me?”  
“I think they will. It might take Stan some time,” I admit.  
“Well, he’ll have to get used to seeing us together,” He laughs and his smile is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.  
“I guess he will,” I say, biting my lip and smiling. I realize what I’m doing and get back to work, “So, once the computer analyzes it, I ask it for the genetic code and it comes on the screen.”  
“You being all science-y is kinda hot,” Bill says and comes up closer to me and puts his hand on my shoulder.  
“Not now. You have to tell me what the genetic code for this is,” I remind him, he groans then opens the book. He recites the series of letters into the keyword search bar. I look at the results and am in awe.  
“What does it say?” He asks excitedly.  
“I’ll be able to train with you.”


End file.
